5 Important Factors that May Affect the Learning

Factor Affecting Learning

Since learning is an acquired process, it is quite natural that several factors may affect this process. Understanding of these factors is important for management because it can organize its learning programmer through training or otherwise for improving the behavior of employees at the workplace. The major factors affecting learning are motivation of the learner, his mental setup, and nature of learning materials, practice, and environment.

Factors That Influence Learning

Motivation: learner’s motivation is one of the major conditions for learning. As we shall see later in this text, motivation is something that moves a person to action and continuous him in the course of the already initiated. This course of action includes learning too. A positive behavior developed through learning results into reward while a negative behavior results into punishment. Thus, degree of the learner’s motivation is positively associated with his learning. There is overwhelming evidence that support the generalization that motivation responses tend to be repeated whereas non-motivated responses tend to be discontinued.

Mental set-up: Mental set-up refers to the preparation for an action, in the context learning. If a person is prepared to act, he can do the things quickly and in no time. Without mental set-up, learning cannot go smoothly and easily it happens so because the person’s mental set-up activates him to do the act, and due to this level of activation, he gets inclined to perform the act. Various Research Studies also support this view.

Nature of learning materials: Nature of learning materials affects learning by providing the clue for understanding. There are a number of features of the learning materials which affect learning. First, if the learning material is of easy nature, it is learned quickly whereas difficult material takes time to understand. Second, familiarity with learning materials affects learning if the learner is familiar with the learning materials, he can learn more quickly as compared to when he is unfamiliar: with these third, serial position, shape, and meaningfulness of learning materials and this also affect learning. It these, features are positive, learning takes place at faster rate.

Practice: practice is a very basic condition of learning and affects all types of learning. The more a person practices, more be absorbs the learning contents. Most of the motor skills (like, swimming, etc.) are learned based on this principal.

Environment: Environment in which learning process occurs also, affects learning. Environment here refers to the situational set up for learning. Environmental factors can either strengthen or weaken the innate ability to achieve and learn. Environment with its pressure and high rate of change increases the likelihood of stress and has a negative impact on learning. Environment with features of support, cohesion, and affiliation has positive impact on learning.